Around Every Corner
by April-M
Summary: Death is around every corner for April and July Merriwether, the Marauders, and Lily Evans. Voldemort and his followers are killing more openly and the wizardingmuggle communities are in a state of constant panic. How will their 7th and final year of Hogw


**Name**:Untitled as of now (Don't usually think of one until I'm at least ten pages into writing. This is only 3 on Word.)

**Author:** Myself, Jen Fruzz or my alias, my original character: April Merriwether :takes a bow:

**Chapter:** One (But not finished yet)

**Summary:** April and July Merriwether, 17year old part-Veela twins,are in their seventh year at Hogwarts. For the past six years Lord Voldemort and his followers have made their lives full of terror and fear. Now the killings have taken a turn for the worst and the Merriwethers are a prime target. (Follows the twins, Lily, and the Marauders through their seventh year and beyond.)

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any the names that have been mentioned in the books written by J.K. Rowling. And I am jealous that she does. )

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One

The shoppers of Diagon Alley hurried more quickly than usual through the crowded streets of Diagon Alley. If one was to watch a store door, they would see customers entering an exiting within ten minutes. Five if the lines were not too long… But then, no one wanted to be in Diagon Alley in the first place. Not when possible deaths and murder lurked at every corner.

Death wasn't a new friend of the Wizarding, and even Muggle, public. It had met many families over the past six years, claiming their loved ones as its own.

Thankfully, for the Purebloods of the world, the attacks were centered on the mixed blood or "dirty" blood of the community. They were singled out and murdered before all others; Death's main priority in his endeavor. Purebloods needed not worry about their family being taken and killed; only had to worry about what could happen to a friend they held dear. Even in being a friend, a pureblood could be targeted. People lived in fear.

It made Death happy to know that small, yet significant, fact.

Death had not settled itself upon the shoulders of April and July Merriwether, and for that they were grateful. Because of their heritage they were an easy target to a Death Eater, one of Lord Voldemort's followers, to kill. Death Eater's cared not about secrecy and doing clean work of a murder; they killed in the open. They took out anyone who was in their way.

April and July were part-Veela. Veela were creatures hailing from Bulgaria. They were known to trance men, like the sirens of Greek mythology, and lure them. They could be vicious, they could be kind. Because these girls were only part-Veela, they didn't have that strong of an effect on young men. They were twins and stuck together more than ever in these times. Both had eyes the color of the purest emeralds and white-blonde hair that hinted at being silver. April's to the top of her waist and July's to her shoulders. Those distinct characteristics, along with their pale skin and petite stature, made them susceptible to any attack, anywhere they went.

But the girls were also as different as night and day. April was loud and had a tendency to be snobby and rude to those who bothered her. She was known for speaking her mind and being sarcastic when called for; sometimes even when it was uncalled for. She loved getting into trouble and being the center of a dispute. July was completely different, however. She got into her share of trouble, yes, but she would rather be on the safe side of the rules and not break them. April usually dragged her into any unpleasant nonsense.

The girls were in their seventh and final year of Hogwarts. They'd been dealing with the havoc and mayhem Voldemort caused their entire school careers and with every passing year, grew more apprehensive when going out in public.

The girls and their best friend, Lily Evans, were in Diagon Alley that day to quickly shop for their school supplies for their final year of school. Lily was born to a Muggle family, therefore giving her the unpleasant title of "Mudblood" and a prime target for the Death Eaters; even more so than the twins were. The trio wasn't sure if their vulnerability had brought them closer or if they had become friends because they truly liked each other; but they liked to believe the latter for they all got along.

Of course the girls did not travel alone. Their parents were Aurors and fighting against Lord Voldemort in all their spare time. Their older brother, Nick Merriwether, was living in France with his wife Consuela. Though he wanted to move back home and help with the fight against Voldemort, his family had urged him to stay home and take care of his own. He did so grudgingly and worried about his sister's well-being.

Naturally, the girls were not daft, and traveled in groups rather than alone. Though they knew this would do nothing to prevent an attack they still felt comforted having the guys around.

For example, Sirius Black, who had been April's boyfriend for two years now, always made sure April stayed close to his side. Because she only reached the bottom of his chin, it made it difficult to find her in a throng of people when she got annoyed with being on her "leash," as she termed it. But he always found her and then they would argue. The tension had been high between two for the past year, when the murders had taken a drastic turn for the worse. At least four were reported daily; and that was a good day. Sirius came from the infamous Black family, known for producing heirs to the Dark Arts. They were also leading supporters of Lord Voldemort. But Sirius was different from his family and strayed from them; he had been disowned at sixteen and now lived with James Potter.

James and Lily had only been together for two months; they had finally started dating at the end of their sixth year when James had proven himself worthy of being mature… At times. They got along much better than they had when James would pine after Lily, similar to a dog on its owners heel.

The third member of the Marauders, as the guys called themselves, was Remus Lupin. He had been dating July since the beginning of their fourth year, their seventh year would be their fourth anniversary. Within the group there had been talks of them getting married and no one at the school would be surprised. Remus did his best to look out for July but she made his job easy, not minding that she was watched constantly by him. It gave her a sense of security while she knew April felt trapped.

April sighed, her book bag already filled with most of her supplies. She had run short on money though. "I need to make a stop at Gringotts. I cracked my cauldron last year in potions and I don't have enough on me to get it right now. I'm not coming back here tomorrow." She smiled apologetically when the others looked pained about dealing with goblins again. "We don't all have to go."

"You're not going alone, Apes." Remus said, giving her a look.

Sirius frowned. "No way in hell. I'll go with you, we can meet up with the others later."

Although April looked rather depressed about being followed once again she didn't say anything, knowing it would only make Sirius angry. She knew she had a tendency to be independent and that this wasn't the time to be so now. She was sick of fighting with him over this and wished someone would just killed that Lord Voldemort.

The two separated from the others and started in the direction of Gringotts. Sirius put his arm around April's shoulders. "I know you're sick of me but you're stuck."

April grinned. "It's not so bad, just a bit annoying after awhile."

"Well hopefully, with any luck, there won't be anymore problems soon."

"I doubt that…" She sighed and continued toward the bank.

As soon as the duo reached the bank steps a green light erupted from out of nowhere. April turned to see the light fly past her, nearly hitting her by on a couple feet. The next thing she new, Sirius was pushing her behind him, backing into a corner of the steps where they wouldn't be seen.

April's heart was hammering in her chest and she peeked out to see what it was; though she already had a good idea. And she was right. A smoky spot was visible where a person had just been standing. The flashing of green light replayed repeatedly in her mind's eye. She recognized the Auror as a work associate of her parents. She had been a dear friend to her mother during school and had been in Diagon Alley patrolling. It seemed the Death Eaters had no qualms about taking out someone who was unsuspecting of an attack. The woman had been of mixed blood too…

April choked and couldn't seem to swallow. Sirius, also recognizing who the woman had been, pulled his girlfriend back to prevent her from running out. Shouting and screams could be heard from all directions and Sirius caught a glimpse of long black hair and pasty, wax-like skin before the Death Eater apparated.

"Bellatrix," Sirius breathed, angrily hitting a fist against a wall. Bellatrix was his cousin and only a few years older than himself. She had jumped in with enthusiasm at the change of fighting alongside Lord Voldemort. His hand still curled into a fist, he noticed July, Remus, Lily, and James all rushing towards, though they couldn't see them.

July broke out into a run when she saw how close the murder had been and Sirius could tell she thought the worst. Remus was already chasing after her and grabbing her arm to slow her from running into any danger. July was pulling against him.

April's eyes were puffy and red when he glanced to make sure she was ok. He pulled her against his side and led her out from behind their hiding spot. He led her to the stone stairs of the bank and saw that emergency healers had already been called to the scene to assist the surrounding people who had been injured by the repercussion of the blast. He sat April down and was relieved, yet disturbed, to see that a stone look had replaced the features that had been distraught only moments before.

"April, are you okay?" His heart was also racing a mile a minute. He'd reacted too slowly, he scolded himself. The curse had hit it's mark but it had been only feet from where they had stood and could have easily went off course and…

He let the thought hang when July reached them, pulling her twin into a hug, if only to reassure herself that April was still alive. Lily went to work on comforting her friends.

James, Sirius, and Remus all exchanged dark looks as they surveyed the scene encompassing them.

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I haven't quite finished the rest of this chapter yet. School and work take up a lot of my time but I AM working on this whenever I find myself at the computer!

Depending on the feedback I get here, I'm considering posting one of my other fics I happen to love. )


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